
The hosts were fully focussed in the first half against Hoffenheim and succeeded in creating a number of decent chances after winning possession - with the first threats on the TSG net coming from efforts from Dora Zeller (7’) and Viktoria Pinther (12’)
Leverkusen then had the upper hand up to the break. “Hoffenheim were clearly better than us in the first half,” declared Feifel. On 17 minutes, Bayer 04 keeper Anna Klink saved a dangerous effort on goal from Hoffenheim and then kept a clean sheet up to the break. But there was bad news for the Werkself Women in the first half: Jessica Wich pulled up off the ball and went off in pain. The captain had a calf injury.
The hosts were on their toes at the start of the second half. The Feifel team were rewarded for the lightning start with lead on 46 minutes - Dora Zeller scored. However, Hoffenheim did not allow the Bayer 04 lead to hold and Jana Beuschlein netted an equaliser in a break eight minutes later. The Werkself Women looked unsettled with score at 1-1 - and TSG exploited the situation: Jule Brand scored on 63 minutes and the tables were turned. The visitors took control of the game after the hour mark. Lena Lattwein scored from the penalty spot to make it 3-1 at the start of the final fifteen minutes (76’).
The Bayer 04 Women pulled a goal back a few minutes later; Melissa Friedrich converted a spot-kick to make it 3-2 (85’). The Werkself then suffered a double blow. First, Anne Fühner scored on 90 minutes and, just two minutes later, Paulina Krumbiegel rounded off the scoring in added time for the final scoreline of 5-2.
The defeat sees the Bayer 04 Women slip down to seventh in the table. “We have to be a lot calmer in possession and in build-up play. We lose the ball too often and frequently make the wrong decisions. We have to go back being more compact in defence,” explained the coach looking forward to the next opponents.
Next up:
On Sunday 15 November, the Werkself Women are away to SV Meppen on matchday nine in the FLYERALARM Women’s Bundesliga. The kick-off at the bottom-of-the-table side is at 14.00 CET.
Match stats:
TSG Hoffenheim: Dilfer – Brand (Hartig 69’), Naschenweng (Steinert 77’), Rall, Bühler, Wienroither – Harsch (Dongus 77’), Hagel (Krumbiegel 69’), Lattwein – Waßmuth (Fühner 88’), Beuschlein
Bayer 04: Klink – Sahlmann (Kerschowski 46’), Wirtz, Turanyi, Marti (Rackow 84’) – Wich (Csiszár 46’), Brüggemann, Jessen (Kögel 46’) – Zeller, Nikolic, Pinther (Friedrich 46’)
Goals: 1-0 Zeller (46’), 1-1 Beuschlein (54’), 1-2 Brand (63’), 1-3 Lattwein (76’), 2-3 Friedrich (84’), 2-4 Fühner (90’), 2-5 Krumbiegel (90+2’)
Booked: Nikolic (78’) – Dongus (86’)
Referee: Katrin Rafalski (Bad Zwesten)


Bayer 04 Leverkusen will have to manage without centre-back Edmond Tapsoba in the coming weeks. The Burkina Faso international returned to the Werkself from the Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco with a muscle injury.
Show more
The Werkself are away to Hamburg SV at the end of the Hinrunde in the 2025/26 Bundesliga campaign. The match at the newly promoted club is on Tuesday night, 13 January (kick-off: 20:30 CET). Ahead of the first encounter with HSV since 2018, Kasper Hjulmand spoke about the strengths of the opponents, lessons learnt from the home defeat against VfB Stuttgart and provided a squad update.
Show more
In Germany, the temperatures are currently around zero, leaving even professional footballers freezing - but not the Bayer 04 Women. Roberto Pätzold's team have fled the cold to the south and are preparing for the second half of the season at a training camp in the Algarve, almost 2,000 kilometres away from home as the crow flies. The Leverkusen squad landed in Faro on Saturday morning and have already completed the first three training sessions over the weekend.
Show more
It was a disappointing Saturday night. The Werkself lost 4-1 to VfB Stuttgart to start the new year on Bundesliga matchday 16 in 2025/26, a result that left both players and fans disappointed. "We played without any passion," said Alejandro Grimaldo honestly afterwards. Teammate Jarell Quansah was even more self-critical, emphasising: "We were miles off it in the first half. You can't put in a performance like that, especially in front of our own fans and I can only apologise to them, to be honest." Read on for the reaction, facts and stats from the clash with VfB Stuttgart in the Werkself review.
Show more